3rd party batteries for D7100??

[photoholiko]

I pushed the wrong button on the previous question.

I wanted to know if 3rd party batteries work on the D7100. On the D5100 I was getting error messages.

Does anyone have experience with the D7100 batteries compatibility?

 

[Kbobb1]

I alternated between a nikon and watson battery in my D7100 for a couple years with no problem. one day for no apparent reason the autofocus and some other things crapped the bed - the Watson battery was in it at the time. $300 repair bill. Coincidence or causality - I don't care but now, for a couple bucks more than third party, i only use Nikon batteries. I believe it false economy otherwise.

 

[David Lal]

I alternated between a nikon and watson battery in my D7100 for a couple years with no problem. one day for no apparent reason the autofocus and some other things crapped the bed - the Watson battery was in it at the time. $300 repair bill. Coincidence or causality - I don't care but now, for a couple bucks more than third party, i only use Nikon batteries. I believe it false economy otherwise.

A pukkah Nikon En-El15 battery in the UK costs about GBP£ 60. An equivalent from DSTE costs about GBP£10 or one from Duracell about GBP£15. The difference is a lot more than "a couple of bucks".

Given that Nikon does not actually make batteries itself I don't believe it is worth paying that much just for the Nikon badge. I've been using "third party" batteries in my Nikon DSLRs since 2004 without incident.

 

[PTMcH]

I got my D7100 used. It came with Watson B-3410 (1800mAh). I bought two additional batteries; RAVPower RP-PB057 (2100mAh). I have not had any issues with all three of them so far.

 

[Foto_Dude_1]

The difference is usually in durability. Third party batteries typically last far less and go bad much sooner. I have bought some popular 3rd party batteries for D3300, D7100, D800 as well as for my GX85, N1 J5, etc and they all suck. They are nowhere as good.

Now people correctly point out that genuine Nikon batteries cost 2-5x more but in practice you get for what you pay. If you're ok with a battery costing 1/4 and lasting 1/4 or less than it's not too bad.

 

[lokatz]

The difference is usually in durability. Third party batteries typically last far less and go bad much sooner. I have bought some popular 3rd party batteries for D3300, D7100, D800 as well as for my GX85, N1 J5, etc and they all suck. They are nowhere as good.

Now people correctly point out that genuine Nikon batteries cost 2-5x more but in practice you get for what you pay. If you're ok with a battery costing 1/4 and lasting 1/4 or less than it's not too bad.

Not my experience at all. I alternately used an original Nikon battery and a third-party one when I still had my D7100. The Nikon one would last slightly longer, but not nearly as much as the price difference would suggest. Neither showed excessive aging over the 4-5 years I had them. I recommend using third-party batteries. If Nikon's were indeed as much better as you suggest, they would not have to resort to blocking third-party ones, as they do on the D500 and other recent bodies.

 

[David Lal]

The difference is usually in durability. Third party batteries typically last far less and go bad much sooner. I have bought some popular 3rd party batteries for D3300, D7100, D800 as well as for my GX85, N1 J5, etc and they all suck. They are nowhere as good.

Now people correctly point out that genuine Nikon batteries cost 2-5x more but in practice you get for what you pay. If you're ok with a battery costing 1/4 and lasting 1/4 or less than it's not too bad.

Not my experience at all. I alternately used an original Nikon battery and a third-party one when I still had my D7100. The Nikon one would last slightly longer, but not nearly as much as the price difference would suggest. Neither showed excessive aging over the 4-5 years I had them. I recommend using third-party batteries. If Nikon's were indeed as much better as you suggest, they would not have to resort to blocking third-party ones, as they do on the D500 and other recent bodies.

+1, agreed.

Foto_Dude, I find your arguments simplistic and somewhat contrary to my experience. From where do you get your evidence?

My oldest "third party" battery is around 10 years old and still doing excellent service. In March of 2016, 3+ years ago, I bought two BPS labelled batteries to complement my Nikon EL3 for my D300. All 3 batteries have been used extensively and recharged many times but all 3 are still performing well. Starting with freshly charged batteries I methodically tested them a while ago:

As you can see, I was unable to charge battery 2 beyond 87% and both BPS batteries were, after 500 or so frames more exhausted than the Nikon one. Clearly, the Nikon badged one performed better.

However, the cost of the Nikon battery was around GBP£ 60 whereas I think I paid about GBP£ 10 for each BPS battery - so for every Nikon badged battery I could buy 6 BPS ones.

 

[carylee2002]

When I purchased my D7100 it came with the stock battery and a pair of 3rd party Powerextra batteries. So far I haven't had any problems but I usually only put in the Original battery in the body and use the generics in the battery grip only.

 

[photoholiko]

I want to thank all the above for your replies, it has answered my question.

 

[Kbobb1]

I alternated between a nikon and watson battery in my D7100 for a couple years with no problem. one day for no apparent reason the autofocus and some other things crapped the bed - the Watson battery was in it at the time. $300 repair bill. Coincidence or causality - I don't care but now, for a couple bucks more than third party, i only use Nikon batteries. I believe it false economy otherwise.

A pukkah Nikon En-El15 battery in the UK costs about GBP£ 60. An equivalent from DSTE costs about GBP£10 or one from Duracell about GBP£15. The difference is a lot more than "a couple of bucks".

I can't speak intelligently about the country you live in but current Bh Photo prices in U.S. dollars:

Nikon ENEL15 - $54.95

Watson ENEL15 - $39.95

A couple of bucks difference. I don't care what you choose to use - was giving my experience as asked for by the OP. after paying a couple of thousand $ for camera and Lens gear I'm not gonna cheap out on a battery anymore.

 

[Foto_Dude_1]

You are certainly welcome to your opinions however unless my area is/was flooded with many poor/fake batteries, I consider my experiences valid. I bought some through Ebay and others on Amazon.

I do not know how many cycles you put your batteries through but many third party batteries begin to go bad much sooner.

I got a used D800 which came with genuine and a 2nd 3rd party battery. The 3rd party battery did not hold any charge while the genuine was like new.

My typical experience is the 3rd party batteries hold about 1/2 charge(even while claiming higher capacities) and go bad much sooner.

Perhaps I just had really bad luck or bought at the lower end of the 3rd party batteries which carries its own risks. Though telling genuine and fake Nikon /etc batteries is tough enough, having to do it for Wasabi or whatever other brands is to me a whole separate headache.